Now THAT is high scaffolding!

Those levels are connected like a Jenga column and, yes, they visibly move as Neal and his painters climb up and down those side ladders like monkeys! See the guy way up there at the top? What a view! Remember Steve the painter? That's his son at the base of the scaffolding. He started out in the business with a fear of heights--yikes!--but he said after awhile you get used it. Good news for all you out there who don't like heights. Just keep climbing. You'll get used to it! :)

By the way, notice something missing up there?

That's right! The cross came down. That cross has been there since St. Peter's parishioner, Ted Ho, designed and made that cross for the General Convention of The Episcopal Church which was held in Honolulu in 1955. Hawai`i wasn't supposed to be the site of the 58th General Convention of the Episcopal Church, but when it became clear that the designated site, Houston, Texas, was going to demand segregation, Hawai`i stepped up to become a host for the convention, a place without segregation laws where all were welcomed equally as children of God. The Presiding Bishop at the time, the Rt. Rev. Henry Knox Sherrill, said regarding this move of the convention to Hawaii and the controversial issue behind it, "The church, with an humble realization of the complexity of modern problems, nevertheless has a responsibility to state great ethical and spiritual principles." As true today as then.

Shiny!

St. Peter's parishioner Stephanie Wight along with Lyn Ho Yee (Yes, Ted's daughter!) took advantage of the time while the wall was being painted and the cross was down to clean and polish the cross! It looks BEAUTIFUL! Thank you, Stephanie and Lyn, for your loving care of this historic cross.

If you don't know Hawaiian, you might be wondering what it says. This is the motto of the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai`i:He Lanakila Ma Ke Ke'aand means "Victory Through the Cross," a victory at odds with the world's idea of victory. This is a victory of servanthood and sacrifice, of love over hate.